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Vol. 30 Fall 2006 Issue 1 Letter from the Editor Table of Contents Dear Colleagues: This has been an exciting year of honors for OCC members. In January, 2005 Precollegiate Teaching 2 Jane Ulrich received the 2005 Precollegiate Award Winner Jane Ulrich Teaching Award from the American Philological Association (see page 2). In March, Ohio In Honor of Robert Bennett, 3 Magazine included Benjamin Lupica on its 2006 Clifford Weber, Kenyon Emeritus Honors Listing for “Excellence in Education”. Judith de Luce has recently been named the 2006- Eyes Wide Shut: Blindness and 5 2007 Miami University Alumni Association Desire in Menander’s Aspis, Effective Educator. And in this issue, Clifford Richard Rader Weber honors Robert Bennett with an Horatian ode on the occasion of his retirement. A Star is Born: Mesopotamian 8 and Classical Catasterisms, You should already have received an invitation to Jeffrey Cooley attend this October’s OCC meeting in Cincinnati (see the Program beginning on page 18). Next OCC Officers and Council 17 year’s meeting will be in Toledo, organized by Steven Strauss. Details will be available soon. OCC Meeting Program 18 Deadlines for material for the next two issues are 1 December and 1 March. Please submit material of interest from the media, articles you have written, papers you have delivered to, or reflections on the profession to:
Neil Bernstein Department of Classics and World Religions 210 Ellis Hall, Ohio University Athens, OH 45701 740-597-2100 (tel), 740-597-2146 (fax) [email protected]
Thank you very much. Vol. 30 Fall 2006 Issue 1
American Philological Assocation 2005 Precollegiate Teaching Award Winner Jane Ulrich ▪Lillian Doherty, Chair, Precollegiate Teaching Awards Subcommittee
ane Ulrich teaches at Shaker Heights quizzes, and tests which are appropriate for JHigh School in Shaker Heights, Ohio. Her [her] students. . . Her standards are high. . ., colleague and nominator, Robert T. White, but she provides every student the support, identifies “confidence” as her outstanding practice, and opportunity to succeed. The trait, and you’ll be inclined to agree when I result is that her students absolutely flourish tell you that among the supporting materials under her instruction.” she submitted was a student oration “In Ulricham.” In fact, it should really have been A unique letter of support came from six members titled “Pro Ulricha,” since it demonstrated of the Malone family, classes of 1995 through the thoroughness with which she had taught 2005. The last of these wrote, “As the youngest the figures of speech and the compositional in a large family that was well known in my high principles of a Ciceronian oration. Another school, I often felt like I had something to prove telling detail in the packet Ms. Ulrich to teachers. In Mrs. Ulrich’s class, however, there submitted was the sketch of a little bearded was never the pressure of comparison to my and sandaled fellow doing push-ups at the older siblings. She recognized my own talents bottom of successive Greek worksheets. For and personality, making me comfortable in class me he epitomized the combination of exertion and enabling me to succeed.” and humor with which she elicits the best work of which her students are capable. As Clearly, this individualized attention to student one of them put it in a supporting letter, “Not needs and talents has been effective, both in the only were Mrs. Ulrich’s classes fun, they were spectacular showing of her school in measures hard.” In another letter of support, Prof. Judith such as the National Latin Exam and in the de Luce of Miami University writes: enduring effects of her example in her students’ lives. “Jane’s teaching is always informed by an astute, sophisticated, and compassionate Beyond the classroom, Ms. Ulrich has served understanding of the intellectual and emotional as President of the Ohio Classical Conference development of her students. It is not just that and organized its 2004 meeting. She sponsors Jane knows Classics very well indeed and a chapter of the Junior Classical League, conveys that knowledge effectively. . . Rather, which in 2005 came in second in the state she paces her classes and designs activities, (out of 40 schools) in the Academic Per
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Capita division. Let me close with a parent’s dents as she cheered as loudly as they did description of the state convention: to win the spirit awards. Jane’s influence on the future of Latin education was seen as she “The students were comfortable seeking met over breakfast with several of her former [their teacher’s] advice but were able to students who are now majoring in Classics in manage most of the convention activities college with plans to become teachers. . . She independently due to successful preparation. is ensuring that the future is in good hands.” . . Students supported each other by attending all team events. The sense of camaraderie -Reprinted by permission from the American continued in the spirit ‘competitions’ where Philological Association Newsletter, vol 29. we found Jane dressed in rubber duckie and No. 1 (February 2006), pp 11-12. Blues Brothers costumes along with her stu
In Honor of Robert Bennett ▪ Clifford Weber, Kenyon Emeritus
IN HONOREM ROBERTI BENNETT IN HONOR OF ROBERT BENNETT ULTIMO MUNERE IAM PAENE HIS FINAL DUTY NOW ALMOST COMPLETE PERFECTO 29 APRIL 2006 A.D. III KAL. MAI. ANNO DOMINI MMVI
Laudare numquam praeteritum soles You are inclined never to praise time past, tempus sed ardes rem potidfus novam; but you rather burn for what is new; haerere desuetis docendi you refuse to cling to outmoded artibus atque modis recusas. techniques and methods of teaching.
Comes alumnos hic prope te vides; You see beside you here smiling protégés; impellit omnis mens similis tuae, an attitude similar to yours moves them all, ipsos vetustatis relictae being themselves heedless of old times done and immemores, hodierna amantis. gone but loving the here and now. Semper propinquat spe citior dies praecepta cum tu discipulo dabis The day draws ever nearer, sooner than you expect, nulli neque in coetum vocabis when you will impart your teachings to no student consilia ut capiatis ullos. or summon any people to a meeting to reach decisions.
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Nullos sodales quomodo mitius No fraternity will you advise to play more gently, ludant monebis, nulla tuas fores no springtime of youths florens celebrabit iuventus, will crowd your door, nullius ingenium fovebis. no growing minds will you nurture.
What you believe even now you will then Quod credis et nunc, tum renues statim; straightway deny; mentem creabit vita novam prior, your former life will beget a new attitude, fiesque laudator peracti and you will become a praiser of time gone by temporis et novitatis hostis. and an enemy of newness.
To me, the pale phantom of the girl I embraced Ad me puellae quam puer attigi when young pallens imago nocte venit senem; comes by night in my old age; sic imber Aprili quod auxit in the same way, what the rain caused to grow in attenuat glacies Decembris. April the ice of December diminishes.
Tu voce magna maribus in choris But you--with a loud voice in choirs of men, canta vetustum carmen et histrio sing an ancient song, and, from the stage, succende consessum querelis fire the audience with the tearful laments flebilibus veteris tyranni. of an old king.
Saevos inermi pisce tuo fuga Away from your defenseless fish, put to flight felis, amicos fortiter adiuva, savage tuque ipse constanti beëris cats; staunchly help your friends; pace deum pietatis ergo. and may you yourself be blessed with the unending good will of the gods, on account of your devotion.
HUMANITAS Vol. 30 Fall 2006 Issue 1 Eyes Wide Shut: Blindness and Desire in Menander’s Aspis ▪ Richard Rader, Ohio State University, [email protected] f it is the case that ideology is one’s imaginary The purpose of this paper is two-fold: first, to Irelationship to one’s real conditions of consider how the social reality of Menandrean existence, then it stands to reason that any comedy (specifically the Aspis) is created attempt to distill the infinite complexity of and manipulated. Here I will briefly explore human experience into schemes and character the subtle process of audience manipulation types is a thoroughly ideological activity. that takes place within the prologue and the For it reduces a rich world of personality and effects of this operation which can be detected circumstance into a false world of equivalence throughout the rest of the play. It is my (all braggarts are the same, all grouches are opinion, for example, that though Chairestratos’ the same), valorizing in the process a palatable orchestration of the marriage early in the boundary between self (identity) and other Aspis is illegal (it is technically Smikrines’ (difference). The same perception of the responsibility), nevertheless our focus has world, I contend, holds true even in the work been oriented so as to notice the illegality of of Menander, who is considered to have been a his action but ultimately to disregard it in light student of the archetypical taxonomizer of the of his decency (the word chrêstos is prominent ancient world, Theophrastus (himself the student here). In demonstrating this, I will shed light on of Aristotle). Given this, one would imagine how Menander uses character types to flatter his readers of Menander could see that his world audience, in the process performing the more of identification (with the “good guy” figures) invites ideological criticism. Unfortunately, sinister, ideological work of justifying and most critics tend to reiterate the ideological glorifying the coerciveness of community. In presuppositions of the text they purport to other words, as an ideological representation of interrogate. This inclination demonstrates that the world the Aspis justifies its own capacity to the critical reception of Menander remarkably supplant, represent and supplement its coercive resembles a viewing of his plays in the fourth mechanisms. Second, I will consider how the century BCE, as both experience the humanistic ideological “work” of the play insinuates itself closure of this reified world of identity and even into the reception of the Menandrean difference as an ideological state apparatus. corpus. Here I will trace the ideological For the appeal of this recognizable world, so face of the critical reception of Menander in like our own in its virtues, renders us incapable contemporary scholars who, like the characters of always seeing its darker face. (Imagine The at the end of the Dyskolos, dance and celebrate Stepford Wives.) the creation of a world of illegal coercion.
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“[Menander’s] plots all have as their theme decency in us.” (Olson, E.) the reunion of husband and wife, lover and mistress, father and daughter, or father and “This scheme, which Fortune describes only son, and so on, as well as the righting of in general terms, follows naturally from wrongs with removal of misunderstanding.” our understanding of his character [. . .]” (Post, L.A.) (Goldberg, S.) “Chairestratos’ remonstrance is based more “Smikrines is unusual in being wholly bad: on a sense of basic decency than a strict sense his greed and hypocrisy are unrelieved by any of legality [. . .]” (Goldberg, S.) feature that can win him sympathy.” (Gomme and Sandbach) “Certainty is impossible, but it can safely be assumed that, somehow, the Jacks got their “When the characters of tragedy ceased to Jills, and that Smikrines got his deserts [sic].” take themselves seriously and became mere (Miller, N.) idiots dancing in the wind, Menander filled “On the one hand we have the world of the gap by making comedy a serious and the old and maladjusted fun-hater [. . .] On moral commentary on what men do and what the other, we have the world of the other they ought to do.” (Post, L.A.) characters of the play, who are all fun-loving, properly socialized, and characterized as “. . . a spiritually misguided man in need of thoroughly attractive youths.” (Sutton, D.) reform.” (Sutton, D.) “Only a small piece of Life is imitated on “[Menander’s] characters pass through an Menander’s stage, and only a small piece is ordeal very like religious initiation and necessary. Our own response does the rest.” emerge reformed, purified and enlightened.” (Goldberg, S.) (Post, L.A.) “Each new discovery brings more evidence “The prologue confirms our strong suspicion of generalizing about Menander’s plays.” that Smicrines is the nastiest man in the (Gomme and Sandbach) world, far more offensive than other crabby men like Knemon [. . .]” (Segal, E.) (i) The Tragedy of New Comedy
“[T]his much [i.e., the fact that a character is Daos: Oh sir! Every day is a sad day for me repellant] we know already, if we have any now, and life’s balance sheet is not at all
HUMANITAS Vol. 30 Fall 2006 Issue 1 what I hoped it would be when I set out. For (iv) The establishment I thought you’d come safely back from the war, a hero, and that you’d live the rest of your Tyche: Well now, if something unpleasant had life in some style, with the title of General or really happened to these people, I couldn’t Privy Counsellor. And your sister, for whose be the next to appear, for I’m a goddess. But sake you enlisted, would marry a man you in fact they’re mistaken, quite led astray, as approved of, when you’d come come home anyone who pays attention to me will soon to those who loved you. For myself, I thought discover. [. . .] Daos here made a mistake. there would be rest from long labour, as I grew Kleostratos fought in the defence with old, in return for my services to you. Instead, borrowed arms, and was taken prisoner. He’s you’re gone, Kleostratos, snatched away by alive, and he’ll come back safely, quite soon death against all expectation; and I, your tutor, now. Well, you’ve been properly briefed now have come home with this shield, which failed on that. [Smikrines] is Kleostratos’ uncle on to save you, though you often brought it safely his father’s side, and a real villain, biggest back from battle. For you were a brave man, twister in the world. He takes no account of bravest of the brave. the claims of relatives or friends, never gives a thought to the wickedness of his life. He (ii) A Money-Grubber’s Greed wants everything for himself. That’s his one idea. [. . .] Where [Daos] went in next door, Daos: [. . .] Many men had actually left the that’s the house of the Money-grubber’s protection of the camp, and were looting the younger brother. He’s the young man’s uncle villages, burning crops and selling booty. too, but he’s a good man as well as a rich one. Everyone came back with his pockets full. [. . .] He’s a good man, as I said, and when Smikrines: Lovely! he realized that Kleostratos was likely to be away for a considerable time, and that they (iii) A Misidentification? had little money of their own, he was going Smikrines: Did you find [Kleostratos] among to arrange the girl’s marriage to his stepson the fallen? and he was going to provide a substantial Daos: It wasn’t possible to identify the body dowry. The wedding was to be today, but with any certainty. They’d been lying out for what has happened now will upset everything. four days, and their faces were all bloated. Our villain, who heard just now about the six Smikrines: Then how can you be sure that he’s hundred gold pieces, and got a look at the dead? foreign slaves, pack mules and girls, will have Daos: He was lying there with his shield. It to have the heiress himself: and his age gives was all buckled, and I imagine that’s why none him a prior claim. But he won’t succeed! He’ll of the natives had taken it. cause a great deal of trouble, and show the whole world what he’s really like—and then he’ll be back where he started.
HUMANITAS Vol. 30 Fall 2006 Issue 1 A Star is Born: Mesopotamian and Classical Catasterisms ▪ Jeffrey Cooley, Xavier University, [email protected] he hoary writing system and languages There is no doubt, however, that the Greeks Tof ancient Mesopotamia were deciphered adopted many constellations with little to no in the late nineteenth century. Since that time modification, as part of the entire astronomical hundreds of thousands of cuneiform tablets system, which they accepted from the Near have been discovered and read. Thousands of East. Indeed, eventually the classical tradition these tablets are astronomical in nature. Over would call this half-bred conception of the night the last century and a quarter, it has become sky the sphaera graecanica, thus claiming it quite clear that some of the inhabitants of entirely as its own and in opposition to the ancient Mesopotamia were extremely capable sphaera barbarica. Though little attested, the astronomers. sphaera barbarica was a Hellenistic moniker for alternative constellations that were not used What has also become clear is that the classical in the Greek system. astronomical tradition is heavily dependant on its Mesopotamian forerunner. Indeed, many, Some of the most entertaining mythical many of the most basic features, concepts and genres from classical antiquity are the stellar principles of classical astronomy are borrowed etiological stories known as catasterisms. In part and parcel from the Mesopotamian some ways, catasterisms are one of the most tradition. This includes the division of the sky enduring legacies of classical mythology into 360 degrees and the use of a sexagesimal since most modern basic amateur guides to number system. Related to this, of course, is astronomy make some mention of them when the twenty-four hour day with sixty minutes in describing the constellations.1 Less known, an hour. On a more sophisticated level are the however, are Mesopotamian catasterisms, many mathematical procedures, borrowed from several of which are preserved. Given the the Mesopotamian tradition into Hellenistic science, used to calculate planetary periods utter reliance of classical astronomy on and positions. Mesopotamian traditions, it only seems logical that there would remain some reflex of those But the most obvious and perhaps the most Mesopotamian catasterisms in the catasterisms surprising feature of this classical dependence on from the classical tradition. Even a casual the Mesopotamian tradition is the Greek adoption glance at the few Mesopotamian catasterisms of many of the Babylonian constellations, both that are preserved in the fragmentary literary within and outside the zodiac. Surely the Greeks record, however, is enough to demonstrate that had their own constellations, as all cultures do. there seems to be absolutely no relationship
HUMANITAS Vol. 30 Fall 2006 Issue 1 between the two traditions in this regard. general for the purpose of prognostication. It The question that I would like to discuss is only within Aratus’ description of the night here is: Why did the classical world not sky that he inserts the occasional entertaining assume Babylonian catasterisms together with mythological allusion. Here Aratus relates four Babylonian astronomical science? catasterisms, one involving the origin of the Bears (27–39), another for Virgo (96–136), the Though particular constellations, such as Orion, third the Horse (209–224) and lastly the Lyre the Pleiades, the Hyades and the Bears, are (268–274). Thus, Aratus provides us with the mentioned in the earliest Greek literature— earliest extant Greek catasterisms, but here we that is in Homer (the shield of Achilles, Iliad have only scraps, since these are only amusing 18.483– 492, 509–512; Odysseus navigating by stars, Odyssey 5.269–275) and Hesiod (Works diversions in Aratus’ greater work. Aside and Days 383–384, 564–570, 609–622)—these from Eratosthenes’ Katasterismoi, the only works contain no hint of catasterism. Rather, the other collection of catasterisms from classical earliest collection of Greek catasterisms was antiquity dates to a few years BCE. The work assembled by the chief librarian at Alexandria, entitled variously Poeticon Astronomicon or Eratosthenes, in a work rather unimaginatively De Astronomia was written by Hyginus, the if aptly titled Katasterismoi. Written sometime librarian of Augustus, who is also credited with in the third century BCE, his work is no longer the collection of classical mythology called extant in its original form. It is preserved, Fabulae.4 however, in a Latin epitome from the first or second centuries CE.2 The earliest preserved Now, most of these catasterisms actually relate Greek work containing catasterisms is the otherwise well-known myths that in and of Phaenomena of Aratus, also originating in the themselves have nothing originally to do with third century BCE.3 The immensely popular the stars. These myths are associated with the Phaenomena is not a collection of catasterisms, images of the constellations. For example, the however, it is a description of the night sky in figure of Sagittarius, the archer, is not simply
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HUMANITAS Vol. 30 Fall 2006 Issue 1 identified as the archer. As related in De Water-Pourer. Concerning this Fish, Ctesias Astronomia 2.27: recounts that it lived in a certain lake near Bambyce. When Derceto, who is considered a Many say this is Centaurus; others say this goddess by those inhabiting the region of Syria, cannot be for the reason that no centaur fell into the lake one night, the Fish is believed used arrows. The reason is sought why he is to have rescued her. . . . All the fish were represented with a horse’s limbs and has a tail honored and placed among the stars because like the satyrs. Many say this is Crotus, the son Derceto was the daughter of Aphrodite.6 of Eupheme. . . . Sositheus the tragedian says that Crotus lived on Mount Helicon and . . . It should be noted that, although this story was an active hunter. His diligence in those is given a foreign setting in Syria and the pursuits won him great acclaim, for he was constellation seems to have originated with mul both the swiftest in the forest and the most the Mesopotamian constellation nűnu ( KU6), accomplished in the musical arts. Because of “the fish,” the myth is not known from any other this accomplishment, the Muses asked Jupiter source, Greek or Mesopotamian. to represent him among the stars. . . . Since he wished to signal all of Crotus’ skills in one Aside from these mythological catasterisms, figure, Jupiter gave him a horse’s legs, because there is a sort of historical catasterism which is he used horses exclusively; he added arrows so attested to in classical sources. It is quite rare that by virtue of these Crotus’ skill and speed and seems to only occur when the rise or death might be evident; and he placed a satyr’s tail on of someone of great renown coincides with his body because the Muses delighted in him no the appearance of a comet. Such was the case less than Liber delighted in the satyrs.5 with Augustus. Pliny in his Natural History (2.93–94) relates that: Thus Sagittarius is associated with Centaurus, since the image is of some sort of half-man- His late Majesty Augustus had deemed this half-horse freak. Alternatively, he is identified comet very propitious to himself; as it had as Crotus, who was a normal man but Jupiter appeared at the beginning of his rule. . . . The altered his image in the stars in order to represent common people believed that this star signified his many talents. This explains what would the soul of Caesar received among the spirits otherwise appear to be wholly abnormal. of the immortal gods.
Only one classical catasterism is not otherwise Apparently, then, it is good—very good—to attested to in the mythology, namely that of be king. Piscis Austrinus (the Southern Fish), which is given an entirely foreign derivation: In contrast to the classical tradition which, for the most part, associates already existing This is the so-called Great Fish, which is mythology to foreign-derived constellations, swallowing water being poured out by the Mesopotamian catasterisms, by and large,
HUMANITAS 10 Vol. 30 Fall 2006 Issue 1 do not draw their meaning from mythology. as these we find the clearest and most frequent Rather, in Mesopotamia, catasterisms are examples of catasterism in Mesopotamia. mythology. That is to say that Mesopotamian catasterisms do not associate otherwise Only partially preserved on a single tablet independent myths with generic images in dating to the seventh century, the Labbu Myth the sky. In Mesopotamia, for the most part, is thought to have been originally composed in the images in the sky cannot be disassociated roughly the first half of the second millennium. from the myth. Furthermore, unlike the case Though fragmentary, enough of the tablet is with classical catasterisms, the scribes of preserved to reconstruct the basic plot with ancient Mesopotamia did not assemble their reasonable certainty. The world is in disorder star myths into a single, organized collection. because of a serpent monster that the divine Sea Rather, these myths exist in independent stories has spawned and that the storm god Enlil has or are incorporated into larger stories. Two last designed. To deal with this crisis, the gods meet notes regarding the nature of Mesopotamian around the moon god Sin. The gods decide to catasterisms are in order. First, they are not offer a minor deity, Tišpak, kingship in return particularly common. There are, in fact, so for his service of slaying the monster. Tišpak few extant Mesopotamian catasterisms that successfully dispatches the beast and it is here we will actually cover most of them. Second, that the text breaks off. all Mesopotamian catasterisms date to the second millennium. This is because almost all Significant to our discussion here, is the major Mesopotamian literary works originate description of Enlil’s creation of the monster: in the second millennium, while the heyday of Mesopotamian celestial science was in the first Who [brought forth?] the serpent? millennium. Thus, the rarity of Mesopotamian The Sea [brought forth?] the serpent! catasterisms is due to the simultaneous decline Enlil drew in the heavens [ . . . . ] of mythological speculation and rise of celestial 50 double-hours its length, 1 double [hour its 8 science. width] One of the great motifs in ancient Near Eastern 6 cubits its mouth, 12 cubits [its . . . . ] literature in general, and Mesopotamian 12 cubits the circumference of its e[ars?] literature specifically, is the conflict myth, For 60 cubits he encloses? [ . . . . ] in which a hero deity, often at the behest of In the water 9 cubits he dra[gs . . . . ] other gods, slays a threatening monster and is He raises his tail [ . . . . . ] rewarded for his actions. A common, though not The gods of heaven, all of them [ . . . ] necessarily universal, component in this motif In the heavens the gods were bowing before is an act of creation, either of a feature of the [Sin . .] cosmos or of the cosmos as a whole. Probably and by Sin’s fringe . . . . [ . . . ] because of this last component, it is in texts such “Who will go and [slay?] Labbu?” 9
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It is unclear just how the Sea was involved with plot of the myth of Girra and Elamatum can Enlil’s creation of the serpent, which he draws nonetheless be reconstructed, if only in bare in the sky. That this serpent is a constellation essentials. This story, dating from the first half seems to be fairly clear, however. The idiom of the second millennium, recounts how the “to draw in the sky,” to describe the creation god Girra rescued the land from the wicked of a celestial feature is found in the celestial machinations of Elamatum, literally, “the divination literature to refer to the method of Elamite woman,” who apparently had caused the creation of the stars and constellations. famine and cessation of livestock breeding. As reward for his heroism, the storm god But just what is this monster? It is called both Enlil decrees that Girra, the god of fire, be the a “serpent” and labbu, which is an Akkadian preeminent light above his divine brethren and poetic term for “lion.” Clearly, the monster illuminate humankind: is a Mischwesen, part lion, part serpent. The lion-serpent is common in Mesopotamian Go, may you be the light of humankind. iconography—judging by the dimensions You made yourself appear! given, it is a weird looking beast. The terms Let Girra be your name! used to precisely describe the dimensions of . . . . the lion-serpent, “double hour” and “cubit,” Until you show them light may the nocturnal are not only common units of terrestrial length, offering of the gods, your brothers, not they are also commonly used to describe be. . . . celestial distances. Since a terrestrial double hour is several miles long while a cubit is only Though we cannot identify his specific star, we about a foot and a half, this would make for do know that a star called Girra appears in star one very, very, very long monster. However, if lists from the same period. double hour and cubit are considered according to their celestial usage, the beast becomes a After Girra is rewarded, Enlil commemorates little more manageable. A celestial double Elamatum’s defeat by founding a festival hour amounts to about 30 degrees, while a commemorating the event. He imaginatively celestial cubit is about 3 degrees. As for its disposes of her corpse: identification in the night sky, we are at a complete loss. Though there are several sky And the Elamite Woman whom you killed serpents among Mesopotamian constellations, let her rise in the midst of the heavens. there is no constellation called Labbu known [ ] let her stand from Mesopotamian astronomy. [in the mid]st of the heavens [ ] . . . to her people The account of a second catasterism from [ ] let her rise” Mesotpotamia is, like the Labbu Myth, extremely fragmentary. With only the last of Thus, Elamatum was translated to the heavenly an original seven tablets preserved, the basic realm, undoubtedly in the form of a constellation.
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Similar to Girra, though we are unsure just to He fashioned the position for the great gods, what stars the constellation Elamatum was the stars, their counterparts, the constellations associated, this constellation appears in a prayer he installed. to gods of the night from the same period, He determined the year, laid out the plan. . . . alongside other known constellations and stars, so we can be certain of its existence in the night Marduk goes on to fashion the moon and the sky. sun, among other celestial features. The account is essentially a pan-catasterism, in which the Thus, the myth of Girra and Elamatum was, creation of the whole of the sky is described in at least in part, a catasterism explaining the astronomically significant detail. existence of two stars or constellations from the Old Babylonian period. Since the myth also Having built celestial and terrestrial homes for includes the establishment of a festival, it is the gods, Marduk decides to create humankind possible, perhaps even likely, that the heliacal to serve them. Marduk then assigns the gods rising of the constellation was coordinated with their respective duties and dominions in either the celebration of that festival. Thus, the myth the netherworld or in heaven. With a busy provides an etiology for a constellation as well day of cosmic monster slaying and universal as a calendrical phenomenon. construction complete, the gods then gather in Marduk’s temple for a great feast and, The third catasterismic text I would like to after eating and drinking, they retire to their introduce comes from yet another example respective domains, fixing destinies and giving of the Mesopotamian conflict myth. Next to judgments. the Gilgamesh Epic, the Babylonian Epic of Creation, Enuma Elish, is perhaps the best- Thus Tiamat’s corpse remains on display like a known myth from ancient Mesopotamia. It cosmic deer’s head mounted on the wall of the tells the story of how a young, little-known god very fabric of creation. Like any good hunter, named Marduk achieved supremacy over all the Marduk is proud of the weapon with which he gods of Mesopotamia and how he created the took down his pray, that is, his mighty bow. He cosmos in the process. As the story goes, a new, takes his beloved weapon, and sets it before the younger generation of gods is threatened by the gods to admire: ancient and powerful goddess of the deep sea, named Tiamat. Terrified by her immense power, The lord received the bow, his weapon he the gods offer Marduk kingship over them if he placed before them. is able to slay Tiamat. Marduk does so easily . . . . and he reuses Tiamat’s enormous corpse to They looked at the bow, how it was well fashion the very cosmos itself, including the crafted. earth, rivers, seas, the city of Babylon and its His fathers were celebrating the feat he temples, and significantly, the sky: performed.
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Anu lifted it up, in the assembly of the gods on the day when Šulgi ascended to he spoke; heaven. . . . He kissed the bow, “Let it be my daughter!” He named it, the bow, thus are its names: That this text refers to a stellar transformation “Long Wood, let it be the first, and the second, of the king is verified by near contemporary star let it be Conqueror. lists in which Šulgi appears along side other, Its third name is Bow Star; I will make it visible better known stars and constellations. As in the in the heavens.” classical world, however, this form of political catasterism was rare, confined only to the early He fixed its position with the gods, its stages of Mesopotamian history. brethren. Now obviously, there are some basic similarities Thus, out of the sheer joy of witnessing the between classical and Mesopotamian exaltation of the famous weapon, the sky god catasterisms. Nevertheless, the differences in Anu gives the weapon three names. Together content, context, and number are dramatic. with its third name, the Bow Star, Anu places the Mesopotamian catasterisms were really quite weapon in the sky, making it a constellation. We rare while in the classical world there were know from astronomical texts that the Bow Star several popular collections in circulation. is much of the constellation Canis Major. Anu Furthermore, the extant catasterisms from even adopts the weapon as his very daughter. Mesopotamia do not deal with particularly With Tiamat dead, Marduk in charge, and the prominent constellations—as far as we can Bow-Star in heaven, all is right with the world, determine, for example, none of the stars in the and the gods all live happily ever after. zodiac are given a specific mythological origin. There seems to be no connection whatsoever In addition to these mythical catasterisms, we between the catasmerismic scraps we have know that in the earliest stages of Mesopotamian from Mesopotamia and the virtual stellar feast history, occasionally a certain king upon his from the classical world. Why is this the case death was considered to be translated into the and why are catasterisms such a well-attested night sky as a star or constellation. Such was genre in Greece and Rome? the case with Šulgi, the king of Ur who reigned at the end of the third millennium BCE. This First of all, the question of origins is very transformation was reported in a mundane important. In Mesopotamia, the night sky economic text that documents the work record had always been just as it was. Its animals of slaves: and images were common in Mesopotamian thought and aesthetic and for the most part, 19 female full-time slaves required no mythological explanation. In [and] 2 female slaves at 2/3 wage, contrast, much of, indeed, the most important for seven days. parts of the classical sky were imported from Their work of 142 1/3 female slave days a foreign culture. Thus, in Greece, they had no
HUMANITAS 14 Vol. 30 Fall 2006 Issue 1 inherent cultural significance and they needed Burkert10 and Martin West,11 who have strived to be fully incorporated into Greek thought and to find solid, incontrovertible links between religion. Catasterisms fulfilled this necessity. ancient Near Eastern and classical literature, This is part of the Greek obsession with literary and mythological links between the finding the significance and meaning, or more ancient Near East and the classical world specifically the Greek significance and meaning remain vague, at best. There are limits to of everything, including foreign concepts and intercultural interaction. A culture will only institutions. This undertaking is similar to many adopt foreign concepts, ideas, technologies, of the etiological stories assigned to foreign etc. if they are meaningful, useful, and above concepts and institutions that we find in such all, available to the adopting culture. In the accounts as Herodotus’ Histories. For example, case of Mesopotamian catasterisms, they the origin of the Persians is, of course, traced were not meaningful to a Greek audience, through the Greek mythical hero Perseus, and nor were they useful for framing the newly Herodotus even cites the Persians themselves as borrowed astronomical system within its new the originators of this idea, in spite of the fact Greek context. But above all, Mesopotamian the name of the Persians is, in reality, Persian catasterisms were probably not adopted by the in origin (Histories 6.54; 7.150). Greeks alongside Mesopotamian astronomy because they were simply unavailable. The second reason for this situation is just as important, namely, that despite the amount Endnotes of intellectual effort spent on astronomy and celestial science in Mesopotamia, catasterisms, 1 E.g. M. Chartrand, The National Audubon which are one way in which myth reflects on Society Field Guide to the Night Sky (New York: these undertakings, were simply out of fashion Knopf, 1991), 421–621. and considered wholly unimportant in Babylon 2 by the time the Greeks adopted Mesopotamian C. Robert, Eratosthenis Catasterismorum astronomy in the late first millennium. Reliquiae (Berlin: Weidmann, 1963) and A. Olivieri, Pseudo-Eratosthenis Catasterismi We are left with the fact that the Greek world (Mythographi Graeci 3.1; Leipzig: Teubner, adopted Mesopotamian astronomical methods 1897). For a modern English Translation, see T. devoid of any mythological associations. Condos, Star Myths of the Greeks and Romans: This fact underscores the reality that, despite A Sourcebook Containing The Constellations of the heroic efforts of scholars such as Walter Pseudo-Eratosthenes and the Poetic Astronomy
The Committee for the Promotion of Latin of CAMWS regularly makes awards to help support a variety of projects. For information, see: http:// department.monm.edu/classics/CPL/Grants/CPLFundingProcedure.htm
HUMANITAS 15 Vol. 30 Fall 2006 Issue 1 of Hyginus (Grand Rapids: Phanes Press, 8 For descriptions of Mesopotamian celestial 1997). sciences see, H. Hunger and D. Pingree, The Astral Sciences in Mesopotamia (Handbuch 3 D. Kidd, Aratus: Phaenomena (Cambridge: der Orientalistik 44; Leiden: Brill, 1999) and Cambridge University Press, 1997). U. Koch-Westenholz, Mesopotamian Astrology (CNI Publications 19; Copenhagen: Museum 4 G. Viré, Hyginus: De Astronomia (Leipzig: Tusculanum Press, 1995). Teubner, 1992). For a modern English translation, see M. Grant, The Myths of Hyginus 9 CT 13 33-34 (Rm 282). See also English (Lawrence: University of Kansas Press, 1960) translation in A. Heidel, The Babylonian as well as Condos, Star Myths. Genesis: The Story of Creation (2nd ed.; Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1951), 5 Translation from Condos, Star Myths, 184. 141-143.
6 Poeticon Astronomicon 2.41; translation from 10 W. Burkert, The Orientalizing Revolution: Condos, Star Myths,163–164. Near Eastern Influence on Greek Culture in the Early Archaic Age (Cambridge: Harvard [i]7 The same story is related in Dio Cassius’ University Press, 1992). Roman History 45.7.1 and in Suetonius Div. Jul. 88. These authors are adamant that this 11 M. West, The East Face of Helicon: West was a belief of the common folk rather than Asiatic Elements in Greek Poetry and Myth intelligentsia . (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1999).
The new Ohio Classical Conference website http://www.xavier.edu/OCC
Thanks to Ed Cueva and Xavier University, the Ohio Classical Conference now has a new website at http://www.xavier.edu/OCC. This site includes information regarding upcoming annual meetings, OCC scholarships, and an archive of prior issues of Humanitas in PDF format. Please consult the membership and email directories and add or correct your information as appropriate. Thanks!
HUMANITAS 16 Vol. 30 Fall 2006 Issue 1
OCC Officers
President Edmund Cueva, Xavier University 1st Vice President Steven Strauss, Notre Dame Academy 2nd Vice President Gwen Compton-Engle, John Carroll University Secretary Judith de Luce, Miami University Treasurer Shannon Byrne, Xavier University Humanitas Editor Neil Bernstein, Ohio University
Scholarship Committee: OCC Council Amy Sawan, Medina High School Donald Poduska, John Carroll University Kay Fluharty, Madeira High School Term Ending 2006: Jeff Kolo, Medina High School Hildesheim Vase Committee: Stergios Lazos, Saint Edward High School William Owens, Chair, Ohio University Adam Serfass, Kenyon College Don Lateiner, Ohio Wesleyan University Janice Vitullo, Laurel School Mary Jo Behrensmeyer, Mount Vernon High School
Term Ending 2007: Finance Committee: Laura Abrahamsen, Lakewood High School Shannon Byrne, Chair, Xavier University Steve Anderson, Grandview Heights High School Franz Gruber, The Columbus Academy Mark Bocija, Columbus State Community College Martin Helzle, Case Western Reserve University Gwen Compton-Engle, John Carroll University Jeff Kolo, Medina High School Lee Fratantuono, Ohio Wesleyan University Stergios Lazos, Saint Edward High School Carolin Hahnemann, Kenyon College Nominations Committee: Term Ending 2008: Steven Strauss, Chair, Notre Dame Academy Daniel Arbeznik, St. Ignatius High School Mary Jo Behrensmeyer, Mount Vernon High School Representative to OFLA: Kay Fluharty, Madeira High School Sherwin Little, Indian Hill High School Sr. Georgia Messingschlager, St. Xavier HS Nicholas Russo, St. Francis de Sales High School Representative to ACL: Zara Torlone, Miami University of Ohio Judith de Luce, Miami University
HUMANITAS 17 Ohio Classical Conference Program
Vernon Manor Hotel Cincinnati, Ohio October 27–28, 2006
Friday October 27, 2006
8:30am, Continental Room: REGISTRATION AND BOOK DISPLAY
9:00am–10:00am, Continental Room: COUNCIL MEETING
10:00am–12:15pm, Continental Room: FIRST PANEL SESSION
Roman Literature and Art Shannon N. Byrne, Xavier University, Chair
Each Man’s Father Served as his Teacher: Ancestral Emulation and Fictive Kinship in Pliny’s Letters, Neil Bernstein, Ohio University Silencing the Historian: Tracing the Decline of Libertas under Tiberius in Tacitus’ Annales, Robert Brewer, University of Florida The Roman Triumph and its Place in the Classroom, Amber Scaife, Kenyon College Perfer et obdura: multo graviora tulisti (Tristia 5.11.7): Ovid’s Rejection of Ulysses’ Endurance, Silvia Montiglio, University of Wisconsin - Madison Vita Memoriae: Memory and Forgetting in Ovid’s Metamorphoses, Robert W. Morris, University of Florida Sculpture as a Pedagogical Tool for Architecture, William Preuter, West Geauga High School
12:30pm–2:00pm, Oak Room: THE VERGILIAN SOCIETY LUNCHEON
Making Sense of Vergil Daniel Garrison Northwestern University
2:00pm–3:00pm, Belvedere Conference Center Boardroom: FINANCE COMMITTEE MEETING
3:00pm–4:00pm, Continental Room:
The Integration of the Library and Technology into Classical Studies Michelle Early Bibliographic Control Services Librarian, Xavier University
Kelly Kusch Covington Latin School
4:15pm–6:00pm, Continental Room: SECOND PANEL SESSION
The Next Generation of Classicists I John W. Thomas, Xavier University, Chair
Songs of Many Wiles: Renderings of “Homeric Society” and Manipulations of the Mythological Tradition
Introductory Remarks, Brian P. Sowers, University of Cincinnati The Hero Menestheus: Mortal Enemy or Misunderstood Victim? Christina L. Kolb, University of Cincinnati Medea’s Dream and the Psychology of Emotion: Argonautica 3.616–635, Jason Reddoch, University of Cincinnati Feasting in the Prehistoric Aegean: Views from the Linear B Tablets and the Homeric Epics, Sarah Lima, University of Cincinnati Hidden in the Shadows of the Future Perfect: Contesting the Polis and Misreading the Aegean Dark Age, Aaron D. Wolpert, University of Cincinnati
6:15pm–7:15pm, Oak Room: RECEPTION
Xavier University’s Classics Department and the Office of the Academic Vice President and Provost invites OCC members to enjoy a variety of hot and cold hors d’oeuvres and open bar. The reception is free of charge to all OCC members who have paid their membership and registration dues.
7:30pm: Dinner on your own at the Vernon Manor Hotel or at one of many restaurants recommended by the Vernon Manor Hotel. (There will be a free shuttle departing from the Vernon Manor Hotel to Newport on the Levee, but the seating is limited. Please make sure to indicate on your registration form if you will be making use of the shuttle.)
Saturday, October 28, 2006
8:30am, Continental Room: REGISTRATION AND BOOK DISPLAY
9:00am–10:00am, Continental Room: BUSINESS MEETING
10:15am–12:15am, Continental Room: THIRD PANEL SESSION
The Next Generation of Classicists II Fr. Frederick Benda, S.J., Xavier University, Chair
Applied Approaches to Interpreting and Reconstructing the Ancient World
Introductory Remarks, Kathleen Lynch, University of Cincinnati Cyprus, an Island at the Crossroads of Empire: A Case Study in the Interpretation of Empires and Their Effects on the Classical World, Jody Michael Gordon, University of Cincinnati Identifying a Less Spectacular Greek Sanctuary: The Case of Stymphalos, Peter Stone, University of Cincinnati Portrait of the Artist: Lysippos as Literary Legend, Jed Thorn, University of Cincinnati Making Latin Concrete: Strategies for Teaching Literature through Archaeology, Lynne A. Kvapil, University of Cincinnati and Patrick Beasom, University of Cincinnati
12:30pm–2:00pm, Oak Room: BUFFET LUNCH & WORKSHOP
Edmund P. Cueva, Xavier University, Chair
Archaeology in the High School Classroom Mary Jo Behrensmeyer Mount Vernon High School
An ‘Instant’ Approach to Helping Students Nick Young University of Detroit Jesuit High School University of Detroit Mercy
2:15pm–4:00pm, Continental Room: FOURTH PANEL SESSION
Greek Literature and Art Steven Strauss, Notre Dame Academy, Chair
E. Stallings and Margaret Atwood Revise Homer, Judith de Luce, Miami University of Ohio From Sublime to Suspicious: Plato’s Shifting View of Poets, Jay S. Arns, University of Florida Archaeological Evidence for the Reconstruction of Athens after the Persian Sack of 479 B.C., Kathleen M. Lynch, University of Cincinnati Narrated Construction Sites in Herodotus and Thucydides, Edith Foster, The College of Wooster Xenophon of Ephesus and the Romance of Slavery, William Owens, Ohio University
4:30pm: Shuttles Depart for Xavier University–Schmidt Hall (If you wish to drive on your own to Xavier, the Vernon Manor Hotel will supply directions.)
5:15pm–6:15pm: THE 2006 JOHN W. RETTIG LECTURE Conaton Board Room, Schmidt Hall
“Texts, Sacred and Profane: Editors, Saints and Sinners” Gareth L. Schmeling University of Florida
6:30pm: RECEPTION Conaton Board Room, Schmidt Hall, sponsored by Xavier University’s Office of the Academic Vice President and Provost
7:30pm: OHIO CLASSICAL CONFERENCE BANQUET Presentation Room, Schott Hall
HILDESHEIM VASE AWARD
9:00pm: Shuttles Depart for the Vernon Manor Hotel from Xavier University–Admissions Parking Lot–Schott Hall
Dear Colleagues,
A goal of this Cincinnati meeting is to encourage greater dialogue and camaraderie between secondary teachers and university/college instructors. It is our hope that we can have the greatest participation possible. Please let me know if I can be of any assistance or answer any questions.
Ed Cueva President, OCC [email protected]